“How are you feeling?”, my neighbor asked me midday today. “Crappy.”, I told her. I have a cold and at the perfect time. I am full swing into YOGA FEST 2024 MODE! “I’ll pick up the kids.”, she said without my request. Thank GOD! When I get focused on something, I hyper fixate and it’s nice to continue working without stopping.
I do know my limits, so I stop when I need a mental break. Today I got overwhelmed and dropped myself into mediation. I cleared the fog and got right back to work. Then I felt like I needed a little relaxation and I relax by cooking.
When I looked in the fridge, I realized that I hadn’t done a grocery trip since early this week and the only thing I could find was chicken and croissants. So I smothered the chicken. Then I shredded it and rolled it up with some cheese in the croissants. That was soooo good!! I ate most of them.
Half of the chicken was left so I cooked it down with some general Tso seasonings, soy sauce and sugar. I threw that over noodles. When the kids got home, Gabe did the stanky leg when he tasted it because it was delicious.
It’s 6pm and I am in bed working on the festival while also fighting the drowsy feelings from the Benadryl I took to curb these sinus symptoms. I am not a fan of pharmaceuticals, but the elderberry tea and castor oil aren’t cutting it and momma has to get this festival kicked off.
“Can you put our logo on the flyers?”, Mike from the City of Lake Charles text me last night while I was falling asleep. Karen from City Hall called me first thing this morning to address the same issue. Funny thing is that last year I put their logo on the flyer prematurely and I got reprimanded for asking for forgiveness instead of permission from the Mayor. Im glad to know that they are eager to be a part of the festival this year.
I’m not going to lie. This is a lot of work for one person. I have to be conscious of the registration list, adding person by person to my excel sheet on my phone. I reach out to old vendors to secure their spots before I make a cut off. Spots are filling fast. Sponsor calls are an all day endeavor, but I am thankful that I don’t have to beg. One call and that’s all it takes.
I do all of the graphics myself. I don’t want to hire anyone because I want the sponsorship money to go back into the festival ads, signage and decor.
All that graphic work leaves room for error and I have made quite a few. I laughed when I posted the Festival Graphics only to find out that I had the date as March 23, 2023.
Once that was fixed, I got all of the sponsors loaded on the flyers. Then once that is posted, more sponsors reach out. It’s never too late to add people so I just stop and go anytime someone wants to pledge in. CBS and Adsource will be running ads until the festival so there are a few major sponsors that I have to secure before I go live with those.
“I already know who you are and what you want! Let’s do it!”, the sales director of the billboard company said when she answered the phone yesterday.
The graphic was ready to go for them. “If you do this for me, you don’t have to do any work.”, I said.
Now I am considering signage… I saved the bases for the retractable signs from last year. The only thing I need to do now is buy another vinyl. However, I am going to buy a blank one and then just get stickers to place on them for sponsors so I can use the same vinyl every festival. At this point I do so many of these that I don’t need to keep buying more signs.
I have to find a way to plug and go these festivals so that I can streamline the work for myself each year. It’s getting easier every time. The Yoga Fest is a complex yet simple thing. I am excited for it. In about 2 weeks, I will have everything aligned perfectly and that will be it.
I plan on driving in on the Friday night before the festival, starting the set up that night and then getting to the event Saturday around 7am and busting it out until 5pm. After tear down, I want to CELEBRATE with all the volunteers, sponsors and vendors.
Rachel Boggs, RN have already started retreat planning and there is only one room left in the first house. http://www.deepgypsea.com is the website if you want to check it out. It’s going to be a transformative retreat in July at the mansion in Ocean Springs.
Here is to following the call and doing what you have to do for the greater good of all!
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